Transatlantic telegraph cable

Transatlantic telegraph cables are special undersea cables that run under the Atlantic Ocean. They were used for sending messages quickly using the telegraph.

The first cable was built by the Atlantic Telegraph Company, led by Cyrus West Field. Work started in 1854, and the cable was laid from Valentia Island in Ireland to Bay of Bulls and Trinity Bay in Newfoundland. The first message between two continents was sent on August 16, 1858. It was a note from Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom to the President of the United States, James Buchanan. The cable stopped working after three weeks.

A second cable was tried in 1865 but broke. In 1866, a third cable was laid and worked well for a long time. It changed how people, businesses, and leaders communicated across the Atlantic Ocean. Messages could be sent and answered the same day instead of waiting weeks for ships. Later improvements let even more messages be sent at once.

Early history

Main article: Submarine communications cable

In the 1840s and 1850s, many people talked about building a telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean. Samuel F. B. Morse thought it could be done. By 1850, a cable was already working between England and France. That same year, a leader of the Catholic Church in Newfoundland suggested a plan to connect places in Newfoundland by land and then use cables to reach Nova Scotia across the water.

At the same time, an engineer named Frederic Newton Gisborne in Nova Scotia had a similar idea. In 1851, he got support from leaders in Newfoundland and started building a land line for the telegraph.

A plan takes shape

In 1854, businessman Cyrus West Field wanted to put a telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean. He talked to experts like Matthew Maury, who helped find a good path under the ocean called the Telegraph Plateau.

Field worked hard on the project. He started the Atlantic Telegraph Company in 1856 and got ready to make the cable. Many smart people joined to help.

First transatlantic cable

The first cable to connect two continents under the ocean was a big achievement. It used copper wires covered with special materials to protect them and could carry messages across the water.

The first try to lay the cable happened in 1857 but didn’t work. The cable broke several times, and there were storms that made things hard. After fixing some problems with how they laid the cable, they tried again in 1858. This time, they managed to connect Ireland and Newfoundland, making it possible to send messages between the two lands for the first time ever.

First contact

In August 1858, people started sending messages through the cable. The first message was read on August 12, and more messages came after that until August 16. On that day, an important message was sent from Britain to America. It said, "Europe and America are united by telegraph. Glory to God in the highest; on earth peace, good will towards men."

Next, there was a special message from Queen Victoria to President James Buchanan. She hoped the cable would help bring the two nations closer together. President Buchanan replied, saying it was a wonderful achievement that would help people around the world.

Even though the messages were hard to send and took a long time, people were very excited. The next morning in New York City, there were celebrations with flags, church bells, and lights in the evening. Later, there was a parade and fireworks.

Failure of the first cable

The first transatlantic telegraph cable had many problems. Two important people, Thomson and Whitehouse, did not agree on many things. Whitehouse did not know much about physics and often disagreed with Thomson.

Thomson wanted to start laying the cable in the middle of the ocean, but Whitehouse wanted both ships to start from Ireland.

Thomson made a better way to receive signals called the mirror galvanometer. Whitehouse wanted to use a very strong electrical method, but Thomson’s way worked better. When the cable was laid, Whitehouse tried his own method. This hurt the cable. The cable stopped working just a few weeks later. Even though the cable did not work well, it sent some important messages before it stopped completely.

Preparing a new attempt

After the first try failed, Cyrus West Field wanted to try again. Many people had lost faith in the project, and Field had trouble getting support. It was not until 1864 that he, with help from Thomas Brassey and John Pender, got enough money to continue.

A new company was formed to make and lay the cable. They used what they learned from earlier undersea cables in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea to design a better version. This new cable had a core of copper wires coated with special protective layers. It was then wrapped in hemp and strong steel wires, making it much heavier and more durable than the first one.

Great Eastern and the second cable

The new cable was laid by the ship SS Great Eastern, led by Sir James Anderson. The ship had special tanks to hold over 2,300 nautical miles of cable. On July 15, 1865, Great Eastern started from the Nore toward Valentia Island. Sadly, the first try failed when the cable broke after more than 1,000 nautical miles.

Later, a new try began on July 13, 1866. Even with bad weather, Great Eastern reached Heart's Content, Newfoundland on July 27. Messages of joy were sent between leaders in England and the United States. The cable was landed at the Heart's Content Cable Station.

In August 1866, ships went back to sea to find the lost cable from 1865. After many tries and rough seas, the cable was found and fixed. It was connected to a new cable and laid to Newfoundland by September 7, giving two working telegraph lines.

Repairing the cable

When a cable broke, special steps were needed to fix it. First, the distance to the break was found. Then, a ship went to that spot, caught the cable with a special hook, and brought it on board. Buoys were used to mark the good parts of the cable, and the two ends were carefully joined together.

Communication speeds

Messages were sent using a special code called Morse code. At first, sending one letter could take two minutes! The first message from Queen Victoria took 67 minutes to reach Newfoundland. It then took 16 hours to send the reply.

Later, things got better. By 1866, messages could travel 80 times faster, sending 8 words each minute. Even later, scientists made messages travel quicker, reaching speeds of 120 words per minute by the 20th century. London became a major hub for sending messages around the world from a special station near Land's End.

Later cables

More cables were added between Foilhommerum and Heart's Content in 1873, 1874, 1880, and 1894. By the end of the 1800s, cables from Britain, France, Germany, and America connected Europe and North America with many telegraph lines.

The first cables did not have repeaters to make messages travel faster. Repeaters make signals stronger. The first cable with repeaters was TAT-1 in 1956. This cable was used for telephone calls and had a new way to power its repeaters.

Significance

A study from 2018 in the American Economic Review showed that the transatlantic telegraph cable helped increase trade between continents and lower prices. Experts believe the cable made trade more efficient.